Bloodlust
by HauntedGirl
Summary: Rose lives in the small village of Rosewood. There is something going on here. There is a secret that needs to be found. Why are the wolves coming back? Who is the new man in the inn? There is something wrong and Rose will find it out no matter what. But what is the price of curiosity? (Twist on Red Riding Hood)
1. Prologue

Bloodlust

_Prologue_

She ran through the forest, snow crunching under her feet. The trees seemed to cramp together as she got deeper. Branches and thorns tore at her red cloak but she didn't care. _Have to get away._ When she heard the sound of footfall somewhere behind her, she ran harder.

The dark clouds moved away and the full moon shone down at her and she knew nothing could save her tonight. He was coming for her. He would chase her forever.

He is a monster. No matter how charming he appears deep beneath he hosts the spirit of a beast. A beast that was now hell bent on getting to her. And the beast stops at nothing.

Was it her imagination or does everything seems more sinister all of a sudden. The woods, the darkness, and the moon, the smell of wilderness: all of them have this dark appeal. All the better to lure her with.

Adrenaline pumped through her veins and her breaths came out as small puffs of smoke. The night was getting colder. It had begun to snow again. She wished the snow didn't make so much noise under her feet. He could find her by just listening to it. But the same sound that could mark her doom also alerted her of anything nearby. At least, anything moving.

"They come at winter." Rose's grandmother used to say. "So whatever you do, whatever you hear, no matter how tempting it gets, stay on the path."

Why did she not listen to her?! She should have. She knew she should have. If she had then she wouldn't be where she is now; running away from him, in this awfully dark forest, freezing with cold. She was running away from him when all she wanted to do was run to him.

_Snap! _She heard a twig snap behind her.

She couldn't help but look back even as she continued to run.

That's when she hit a wall. Or what felt very much like a wall but was actually someone's hard, muscular chest. She looked up at the ice blue eyes which were staring back at her with….with _what?_ She was too scared to put a name to the raw ferocity, the hunger she saw in them.

That was the moment she knew she had lost.

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**A/N: I'm about to watch **_**The Company of Wolves.**_** The reason I'm watching it: the taglines give me the creeps. I mean "The desire... the fantasy... the nightmare". Whoa, that's creepy!**

**So anyway, I've been thinking about a twisted version of Red Riding Hood for a long time, ever since I watched **_**Beastly.**_** The Little Red Riding Hood always seemed like the most boring story to me when I was small so I decided that now that I'm writing fanfics, I should make one that I'd like to read. **

**I read the original version of the story by Charles Perrault or something and the moral was: **_**Children, especially attractive, well bred young ladies, should never talk to strangers, for if they should do so, they may well provide dinner for a wolf. I say "wolf," but there are various kinds of wolves. There are also those who are charming, quiet, polite, unassuming, complacent, and sweet, who pursue young women at home and in the streets. And unfortunately, it is these gentle wolves who are the most dangerous ones of all.**_

**Again, creepy. But true. **

**I'll be posting the first chapter as soon as I can. I've got some unexpected twists planned. ;)**


	2. Chapter 1

Bloodlust: The Attack

_Two weeks ago…_

If Rose had to hear everyone gush one more time about how beautiful her sister's new quilt is, she would break something. It was bad enough that she had to sit in this stuffy room when it had just started snowing outside but to be stuck in here with Fat Maude? She'd rather be learning how to set snares from Danny even though she is sixteen and her mother keeps telling her to be more womanly.

Rose loved winter. She loved the snow and the chill and the long starry nights. ever since she was six, she and her best friend Danny would go into the woods to make snow angels and snow men. They would go to the Bloodwater River and ice fish. Then when the sun was almost set, they would go to herNana's cottage and she would bring them fresh baked rolls and hot milk laced with honey and tell them stories. Oh, how Rose loved her stories. Her favorite were the ones about the wolves. The Lykae who seem human but host the spirit of a beast inside them. And then there were also primordial Lykae's who could actually turn into wolves. It was all fascinating to her.

And here she was stuck with Fat Maude – a fat lady whom her father assigned to educate her and her sister in womanly arts- learning how to sew flowers on a shawl. As if that would do her any good. What would she do by learning to sew flowers? Open a shop? That would have been fine in the towns or big cities but here in their small village of Rosewood people sew their own garments. Danny was probably laughing at her with the smithy and woodcutter boys.

"What a beautiful lily, Sarah! You're almost as good as me." And there was Fat Maude gushing over her sister Sarah's work and praising herself at the same time.

Rose hated her. Fat Maude, not Sarah. Who could hate Sarah with her golden locks and shy smiles and all the charm in the world? She was everything Rose was not. Her hair shone like the sun while Roses red mane shone like the dying embers in the fire place. Her blue eyes were as innocent and guileless as a bird while Roses grey ones looked like the weepy sky that often hung upon the village in winter. Her skin was sun kissed and flawless and while Rose had a spattering of freckles on her nose which looked worse than they were because her skin was so pale. Rose had no idea how Sarah had sun kissed skin when Rose was the one who was outside all day.

Rose often wondered how she had ended up being a redhead when her whole family had golden hair. Well, her whole families except her Nana who had hair as white as the snow that was falling outside.

Rose is supposed to visit her tomorrow. Nana probably has all these new stories to tell her. She couldn't wait! She was deadest on enjoying her last winter as a carefree girl because Father said that Sarah –who was seventeen-, had received a proposal from the small town farther down the valley and he said that he wanted her to settle down too. He was already looking for suitors.

Rose had never thought about marriage. She suspected it would be a messy business for her because as Mother put it "Rose is as likely to be a good wife as Fat Maude is to get thin." Seeing that Fat Maude is called fat for a reason Rose thought her chances of being a wife is pretty unlikely because in all her life Fat Maude had always remained fat.

But if she did get married to a boy from another village, she would miss her father, Jonathan Wood. He loved to joke around with her and he never complained about all the mischief she got to with Danny.

Rose had just finished sewing a flower on the shawl that looks about as much like a lily as a wolf looked like a snake and was dreading the comments that were sure to come her way from Fat Maude when the bell at the small church started tolling.

The three of them had just come out of Fat Maude's hut, exchanging bewildered looks as to why the church bells would ring in the afternoon on a Wednesday when they saw Theo running towards them, out of breath.

Theo was the village smithy's eldest son and companion of Rose and Danny whenever they fell on mischief.

He came to a stop in front of them, hands on his knees as he leaned forward trying to catch his breath. "R-Rose-" he let out a whooshed breath and lifted his hand, weakly pointing towards the woods, "you h-have to see…see…"

"See what, boy? Speak up!" Fat Maude demanded, hands on her enormous hips.

"The wolf….there was a w-wolf attack!"

Rose and Sarah gasped together. There hasn't been a wolf in these parts of the mountains for years.

Theo grabbed Rose's hand. "Come," he said and started running back in the direction from which he came. Rose had no choice but to follow. She wanted to see what had happened but she was scared too as to who got attacked.

"Who-"Rose began but Theo cut her off.

"You'll s-see. Thank heavens, he isn't dead. So much b-blood, it's hard to say if he'll live"

When they reached the place of the attack, it was crowded already. People spoke in hushed whispers.

"Is it really one of them?"

"Is the boy dead?"

"Are they really back? I thought they vowed not to return…."

"Not primordial's…the boy…..would be dead…so much strength…"

Rose caught snippets of conversations as she and Theo pushed their way through the crowd. What were they talking about? Why are they looking so frightened?

Rose saw a body on the ground, blood seeping from a nasty gash on the side. The ground was red and the falling snow was becoming red too. Whoever it was was bleeding fast.

Her mother –who had a role as the village medic because no one knew plants and herbs as well as her- was kneeling beside the body. It was a boy, her age. He looked familiar though Rose couldn't quite place him.

Mother looked up when she came closer. "Oh, Rosie," she whispered and when Rose saw who it was she forgot to breathe for a moment. She knew she was as pale as snow.

The boy who was attacked was Danny**.**

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**A/N: Sorry I updated so late. Am too lazy to write more. Enjoy, cupcakes.**


	3. Chapter 2

Bloodlust: Chapter 2

**OK, here goes nothing. This is kind of a short chapter. Enjoy!**

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For a second all Rose could see was the blood slowly seeping into the frost covered ground. How the pool of blood was spreading out as if someone spilled red wine on powdered sugar –only a much darker red. This wild feeling was creeping up her chest. She couldn't stop staring.

Then she snapped out of it. What was wrong with her? Here her best friend was lying, bordering on the edge of death and she couldn't stop staring at the blood! Despicable!

Her mother was already instructing people not to move Danny as it might cause more blood loss. He looked so pale. His lips were starting to get a little blue; either from the cold, or loss of blood- Rose didn't want to know.

"Is he going to be okay?" she managed to say, her eyes now transfixed on the bloody gash on Danny's chest. A wolf attack? Why would a wolf attack Danny? There hasn't been a wolf in these parts since Rose had been a baby. Even then, how could a wolf attack Danny: the boy who was known for the strange, almost surreal soundlessness with which he crept through the woods?

Before her mother could answer, Theo and Lila –the daughter of the village innkeeper- brought a stretcher and Danny's father helped them get Danny on it. They stood up, their hands were stained red and picked up the stretcher and headed towards the inn. Rose guessed that's where they'll keep Danny since it was much warmer than any of their houses. Also, Lila's mother, Mrs. Wilson –the kindly lady she is with her motherly smiles- was the only woman in the village whose nursing skills came close to Rose's mothers.

The next hour passed by in a blur. She sat in the main room of the inn beside the fireplace as her mother and Mrs. Wilson zipped in and out of Danny's room with buckets of hot water, towels, clean clothes and bandages. Poor, motherless Danny lied unconscious on the bed as his best friend was going through a panic attack.

Something was wrong. Why was everyone so tense? The grownups were all talking in hushed voices among themselves. Theo was shooting quizzical looks at her. Lila looked confused. There was something the adults weren't telling them. But what?

Finally Mother came out, looking relieved. "He's going to be okay honey," she said as she sat beside Rose and put her arm around her. "It will heal, just give it some time." Even with the reassuring tone, there was something about her voice that set Rose on the edge. Her mother sounded frightened.

"What atta-"Rose stuttered. "What did that to Danny?" For some reason the word 'attack' stuck in her throat. She looked into her mother's eyes for an answer.

"It was a wolf, sweetheart. Nothing to worry about. Probably just passing through." The reassurance and hopeful tone didn't reach her eyes. "Let's go home. We can check up on Danny tomorrow morning. Mrs. Wilson will take good care of him and when he wakes up you'll be the first to know."

Rose tossed and turned in bed for what felt like hours. She tried counting backwards from one hundred. She tried counting the snowflakes falling outside her window, and all the while sleep kept evading her eyes. Finally, she gave up.

She wasn't known for her patience and everyone knows how much trouble her curiosity lands her in all the time. This time, she had to know why everyone looked queer. Why they were whispering among themselves, looking worried and scared. What are they hiding? Was she over-thinking this? Was seeing her childhood friend bloodied affecting her brain? No, there was definitely this feeling in the air. Lila and Theo felt it too. Were they as sleepless as her this night? Probably not. Something this big hasn't happened in their village in a while. The whole village was probably still awake. Rose could almost hear their hushed voices floating in through the cracks in her window with the cold wind.

Alas, she could hear hushed voices coming from the kitchen. It had to be Mother and Father. She could hear her father's voice rising a little at times and her mother trying to calm him down so as not to wake her and Sarah. Speaking of which, where had Sarah been when they all went to see Danny? Rose was sure Sarah had followed her but then she had lost track. Now she could see her sister in the bed beside her, graceful and womanly even in her sleep. Rose had no idea how she did it. Anyway, she'll figure that out later. Important matters were at hand.

Rose crept up and tip toed as quietly as she could on the creaky floorboard –which was pretty quietly since Danny had taught her a few tricks. She could see the flickering firelight casting shadows over the kitchen and the small space with the round wooden table that served as their dining room.

Mrs. Wood was sitting on a chair, looking worriedly at Mr. Wood who was staring at the dancing flames deep in thought. After a while he said, "They promised they would never come here again."

"I know Jon."

"They _vowed_. I remember the night the promise was made as clear as the day I met you. They said they would never come back. Any of them."

Her mother stood up and put her hand over the light stubble on his cheek. They'd always been like this, at each other's side, as long as Rose could remember. "I know they did, Jon. Maybe it's not them this time. It's most likely a stray looking for its pack."

Jon Wood sighed, "Let's hope you're right. We don't have the strength to protect ourselves against the primordial's anymore. If they attack again –for whatever reason they attacked the first time- they will kill us all. Or worse." His face darkened. "We sent our enemies away and sent our protectors with them."

Rose had stifled a gasp when Father said 'primordial'. Did he mean Lykae? Was he talking about those Lykae who not only hosted the spirit of a wolf inside them but could actually turn into one? Her grandmother's stories were actually true?

She couldn't grasp the possibility of Danny being attacked by one of those monsters. Yes that's exactly how Nana had described them: monsters. But if Danny really was attacked by one of them then how is he still alive? They were said to be preternaturally strong. Danny should've been ripped to pieces. And what is all this talk about a vow? What vow?

Rose stepped back to go to her room so she could think. The floorboard creaked beneath her feet, a loud sound that cut through the quiet of the night.

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**A/N: Hi guys. Sorry you had to wait so long for this chapter. I should be thrown out of the fanfiction community! I was so busy with all this going back to school business and no one told me preparing for O'Levels was this hard! I don't get time to watch TV let alone write!**

**I can hardly find time to work on an actual piece of fiction that I'm working on! And it's really special to me because lots of characters and events in the story are inspired my real life people I know!**

**Ugh! No point complaining. Anyway, when I told a teacher from my school that I like writing fanfictions, he looked all like 'Really? Why would anyone want to do that piece of shit?!' and I got all protective of my babies and stuff. Problem is: I actually used to think he was a pretty good sir. Whatever!**

**Ok, lots of love, my cupcakes. And may the odds be ever in your favor!**


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